My dear Mrs. Laurence. It is with regret that I have to inform you that your package did not make it back to us as planned. Unfortunately, we can only surmise that an error was made and your item was destroyed in shipping. WE will be unable to send you a replacement as it was one of a kind.
Alison looked at the paper as the words slowly made sense. No! he can’t be dead. It was all faked. “NOOOOOOOO!” Alison screamed and then collapsed to the floor.
The guard came running as she heard the scream and found her charge lying passed out on the floor. Calling a second guard, she entered the cell to determine if Alison was actually unconscious. She looked at the prisoner in the next cell as she felt her pulse. “What happened?”
“Hey don’t look at me. That crazy momma was reading something then she screamed and landed there. That’s all I know.” The prisoner then inquired. “Is she dead?”
“That’s none of your business, go back to what you were doing. “ The guard picked up the paper the prisoner mentioned. It was blank. The lady really was a fruitcake. Whatever had happened, she had fainted for real and so she was moved to the infirmary.
When Alison woke up, she looked around and realized she was in the infirmary. “Please, I need to get out of here. I need to find my husband, I just got a message and he’s missing.”“
All the nurses figured she had finally lost it since her husband had been dead for more than a week “No dear, your husband died over a week ago. You went to his funeral.”
“No, you’re mistaken, he wasn’t dead. I spoke to him, he was alright. He’s not dead he can’t be dead.” She tried to get out of the bed and finally succeeded, only to be held by the nurses as she attempted to leave the infirmary. She fought them as they tried to give her a shot to calm her down. “You’re all lying. My husband isn’t dead. The doctor promised he would be alright.”
The doctor and nurses had no idea what Alison was referring to but were afraid the strain of the delusion she appeared to be in would jeopardize the child. She was put in restraints to keep her in bed and a mild sedative was prescribed to keep her subdued and under control. It was decided that Alison would remain in the prison ward until the birth of her baby. Once the baby was born, she would be transferred to a facility specializing in those criminals with obvious psychiatric problems.
****
Ray Martino had agreed to take on Natalie as a client at Todd’s request. It was now three weeks since word had come down about Laurence’s death. Natalie, still coming down from the drugs that had been in her system, had taken the news hard. He was the father of her babies, and she had felt like she had betrayed him. Little by little, as the drugs cleared her system, Ray had managed to break through some of the conditioning Laurence had instilled in her. As her memories of her previous life came back, the time on the mountain seemed to fade. Ray had been very careful not to even talk about rape, even though he suspected Natalie had had sex with Mitch because he had control of her. Natalie refused to even think of giving her babies up. She was still under the impression she had used her own free will every time Mitch had come to her.
Ray looked at his patient. “Natalie, you understand what we’re going to attempt today, is that correct?”
“Yes, you want to hypnotize me to help me remember my first few days at the colony. I’m not sure what you hope to accomplish. I joined The Messenger willingly. He saved me and made me feel welcome when my whole family left me.” Natalie looked at Ray. She was struggling with her own family because she resented them for leaving her. John was the only one she wanted to be around because he was her dream lover. The only other thing she had been happy about was when she remembered Liam was her son. No matter how many times Vicki and John had tried to point out that Mitch had lied to her about her own son, she had turned a deaf ear to them. The Messenger would never hurt her that way.
Ray knew he was in for an uphill battle with Natalie, but he was hoping by the end of the session he might finally break through to her and open her eyes to the real Laurence. “Good, you understand. I’m going to videotape the session so you’ll be able to see what, if anything, happens. Is that alright with you?” Natalie nodded.
“Good, then let us begin.” Under hypnosis, Ray watched the story of Natalie’s abduction play out. He saw her stretch her arms over her head as she recalled waking up bound. Then he felt like a voyeur as she lost focus and began responding to an invisible voice. Calling out things like ‘I’ve been bad’ and ‘I deserve to be punished.’ He turned his eyes away as she offered herself for punishment and sex, all the while clearly under the influence of some drugs. It was even more disturbing when she told of her second day and he saw the agony on her face as she endured some sort of suggested pain and remorse and finally she knelt at the feet of her ‘Savior’ and begged him for his help, then rose and began to disrobe. Ray immediately woke her from the hypnosis before she had done much more than unbutton a few buttons on her shirt.
Natalie awoke from the trance and noted she had undone her blouse. She quickly closed it. “My apologies Dr. Martino, I don’t know why I keep making passes, I can’t seem to help myself. Please tell me I didn’t make one to you.”
Ray was aware of the hyper-sexuality that Natalie had developed as a side effect to the drugs she had been on. He quickly assured her.“You didn’t, and I believe Dr. Leven can better explain that side effect to what you’ve been through. What happened just now, was one of your memories coming to the surface because of the hypnosis. I’d like you to once again take a seat on the bed. I’m not sure you’re ready to view what I just taped. I want to call it a day and we’ll take this up in a few more days when more of your memories surface.”
“No, I want to see what happened. Everyone keeps telling me these tales about The Messenger. If they are true I want to know. He was the father to the babies I’m carrying. I need to find out about him for their sake.”
“Very well, but I will stop the viewing if you find it too disturbing.” Ray had her take a seat next to him and he turned on the recording. He observed Natalie as she began watching and noted the change in her almost immediately. She began to rub her stomach and grip her skirt tightly in her fist. She was clearly agitated by what she was seeing.
Natalie couldn’t believe what she was watching. It couldn’t be true. Slowly a memory filter in
.
Where am I?. God, I’m naked. What do they want? Someone’s coming. Please help me. Where’s my son? So thirsty, do I dare drink? It ‘s just water. Oh No ! They drugged me.
Natalie’s eyes were glued to the vid as she watched what transpired after she was drugged. She suddenly felt very sick to her stomach. “Oh God! What did I do? “ She looked over at Ray and saw his sympathetic look. “Stop it, no more.” She got up, shaking her head, unwilling to believe what she had just seen but unable to deny it. She was almost to the bed when a pain ripped through her. She doubled over and dropped to her knees. “My babies!”
Ray moved to help her unto the bed and pushed the call button. “Ms. Banks is in need of medical help STAT. Natalie, hang in there.”
Natalie could only moan, her insides were burning and she knew something was wrong with the pregnancy.
The nurse arrived quickly and began checking Natalie out. She went to the phone and immediately called for the OBGYN.
Ray stood back. This was the last thing he had wanted to happen. He had been assured by Natalie’s doctor that her pregnancy was stable at the moment. They had been uncertain what would happen as she withdrew from the drugs, but everything had been fine so far. He prayed he wasn’t the cause of her distress. The doctor arrived and after a quick exam determined Natalie was having a miscarriage. Natalie was still in her first trimester but from the looks of things, there appeared to be a major problem. Ray left Natalie’s room and called John and Vicki. She was going to need someone close to help her get through this latest development.
***
When Alison had reawakened for her drug-induced nap she was thinking much clearer. She realized they were going to let her stay in the infirmary and she used that to the hilt. It had proven much easier to get mail in and out after she was there for a few days. She convinced one of the nurses to help her reach her maternal uncle and soon she had a correspondence going with Kipling and no one was the wiser. She finished writing a quick note to him as a different nurse came in to check on her. “When is my husband going to come visit? He called me yesterday and said he was delayed.”
The nurse smiled gently. “Alison, you shouldn’t worry about him. You know it just raises your pressure and that’s not good for the baby.”
Alison let her voice raise. “You’re lying to me. You’re keeping something from me. I know it. I want to see my husband.”
As Alison began to get agitated again. The nurse called for the doctor. He arrived and headed to the medicine cabinet. Realizing she had overplayed her hand, Alison attempted to stop him from injecting her with any more sedative. She was fighting with him when her first contraction hit. As she doubled over from the pain, the doctor set the sedative down and encouraged her to lie back. A quick exam verified she was in labor. The next twelve hours were the longest Alison had ever lived through.
Alison felt like the baby was trying to rip itself free of her, and all she could do was scream. “Damn you, Mitch! You should be here. Why did you go away?” Her heart was heavy as she knew finally that Mitch would never see his child. She had to find a way to escape and her best chance was going to be from the mental institution. Kipling and Hesser had promised to help her but first things first, she had to get her baby safely born. The baby was big and Alison began tiring as the contractions strengthened. When the baby’s heartbeat started to drop, the decision was made to take the baby surgically. Alison was prepped for surgery and a c-section was performed. Alison’s last thought as she went under the anesthesia, was a prayer for her baby.
Several hours later Alison awoke. As her vision cleared she saw the nurse looking down at her. “My baby, when can I see him?”
“Oh my dear, I’m so sorry. Your baby didn’t make it. The cord wrapped around his neck and cut off his blood supply. There was nothing the doctors could do to revive him.”
Alison couldn't believe what she had just heard. “Nooo! He was fine, he was kicking and everything. He can’t be gone. What did you do to my baby? I want to see my baby. His father will get you for this. The Messenger will send down fires on all of you for taking his baby.” Alison continued to rant and attempted to get out of bed, determined to go find her son. She was inconsolable and a second nurse had to come help subdue her.
The first nurse administered the sedative and shook her head. At that moment she felt very sorry for the woman. She had lost both her husband and her child in the space of a couple of months and now her sanity too was gone. Orders had already been sent down that Alison Laurence was to be transported to The Sitwell Institute as soon as she was able to travel. The ambulance was outside waiting for her.
In the back of a black unmarked sedan, Ivan Kipling picked up his phone. Carefully balancing Mitch’s child in his one arm, he spoke. “It‘s finished and we come out winners all around. The lovely Mrs. Laurence will be going to her new home by the end of the day and will no longer be a problem for us. ... Yes, he’s a fine baby boy. He’ll be an excellent asset to our organization. We should be home for dinner.”
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